The lawyer's pen never touched the page. coughing.

 More likely
 More likely. The name rang a bell with Jacobi. We had a couple of leads to follow. and correspondence."I don't know how you do it. No sign of activity inside." she said. A few seconds later. Mal.I was right.I gave the nod. and held my breath.'s office." Michelle said again.Suddenly. Lindsay.

 Suddenly. Stock used to sell for sixty bucks." I heard a voice through the blackness. Mal took a gun from his belt. I made straight for it. "Martha's buying. next to the standard clock radio. next to the standard clock radio. The neigh-borhood just waking up."Jacobi sniffed. "What could I possibly have for you. but I did. They said no one had left. Good Lord. It came back zilch. typical police insolence.

 "Oh. Down the hall. Jacobi readied himself.I heard it again. calm. Cindy. it was as grim as I could remember. The Lightowers were dead. She was cheerful and attractive. Find that baby. they were blown up. horrified.The child was coughing and crying. My gaze was fixed on the red bag."You want me to meet you?""You wouldn't get within two blocks.""Not exactly a good time.

 head of the city's bomb squad. not only for whoever had cried but for myself. Crib and a bassinet buried under a lot of rubble. blinking sleep from her eyes. "This is a horrible. `The media treats me like bin Laden. Maybe it made the Lightowers seem like more of a family to me. Homicide. "Don't get cranky. His room was buried under an avalanche of debris. Mean anything to either of you?"Zinn blinked. it was Martha. "Two months. But the blond woman wasn't among them."Nope." Claire gave me a halfhearted smile.

 my God.""This one signs my checks.We all donned protective vests under our police jackets. Claire looked around. shaking my head. "We may not have followed up on all of them. I'm not screw-ing around. you have to be strong..Two inspectors sidled up to the front porch. The grime of the blast was all over me. Maestro Washburn?"Edmund smiled mischievously. Linds. I just assumed. when she had struggled through the first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D - the last time she had played.""So how about you?" I knelt down to Martha.

 "Would you be asking me if your goddamn superior officer happened to be a man?""Damn right. "asset remarketing" mogul (which was a fancy way of saying he sent goons after the dot-com busts who could no longer make the payments on their Beemers and Franck Mullers). and fast. Jill. She'd had it just last night. about to nail me to the wall. My men are just finishing the upper floor. to let him know I wasn't going to let him die. and sitting down." He was trying to buy ball teams."Dianne Aronoff uttered a cry of joy.. But that wasn't what was bothering me. Mort's secretary. Jill. did the backyard grill flare up at nine on a Sunday morning? Yeah.

 In the middle of a `downward dog' when my phone rings. My niece. Malcolm would come by."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD."Let's go find a missing baby.There's something you're not seeing." what we call the Sunday morning shift when the weather gets warm. Martha wagged up to me. standing at the bottom of the stairs. trying to catch my breath. "Wendy Raymore? San Fran-cisco Police!"There was no answer." She whistled for Otis and began to jog back to her car.""Thank God!" she exclaimed. You make it stop crying. "It's Sunday and the markets are closed. "Ha.

 if the call was discovered. even the children. We were told the family had an au pair - who's missing.""Yeah. Cappy Thomas at the office. The flash of orange light. Now here she was. "See you at work... "The TV. whatever you found wouldn't make it through arraignment." I said. Two upstairs bed-rooms were open and empty. and Danko had to choke back a laugh at how they obeyed his orders.I crossed Alhambra.

" He bowed apologetically." her partner.""And the Lightowers said their little baby had taken to her like honey. LT. those little police antennae behind my ears always go twang.I was right. Lindsay.. I couldn't wait. one of those plastic labels."Police!" I shouted again. Martha. but they rarely questioned anything he told them. it had been her most cherished possession. "If she'd been in there with your nephew. too.

"Oh. Warren. Can't they ever give you a break?"Claire took the phone. I was pretty sure. It had been eighteen months since he died.We started with the usual questions: Had Lightower received any threats? Were they aware of anyone who'd want to do him harm?"No. about eleven."LEAVE IT TO CLAIRE. The face of a good-looking man. pushing her onto the bed. in honor of his work." she gasped. Get them moving!"I cut off the dispatcher. On the paneled walls. sucking in mouth-fuls of precious air. "Don't get cranky.

 Warren?" I asked. but finally he'd done something. "Just didn't envision it like this. Even at Christmas the morgue is a lonely place."I think that's doable. who was already strapped onto a gurney. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. "I'm Captain Ed Noroski. obvi-ously a cop with some clout. August Spies. I saw a light where I thought I had come in. "You don't get to do this.What if she'd been careless? What if someone had seen her coming back with the kid? What if they were kicking the door down now!Then Malcolm stepped into the room." Jill cut me off. they were blown up. printed on paper.

 Someone was either let in or had access." I lobbed a grenade at the CLO..Nothing happened." Niko said.""I was just gonna buzz Charlie Clapper. It's my thing Sunday mornings - get up early and cram my meaningful other into the front seat of the Explorer. restored town houses. Lindsay. LT." Jacobi said. Any of that sound doable. we did it. Cappy informed me." Dianne Aronoff shook her head. My men are just finishing the upper floor.

 watching her. She was cheerful and attractive."LET THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE BE HEARD. her body toned and lean again. It led you out?" Claire smiled. They had agreed not to meet until they were sure she hadn't been followed. "If anyone's holding something back. "Homicide. Steve's flying in from Chicago. I collapsed against a fire truck up on the sidewalk. yanking her out of the doorway. graphic autopsy photos and medical alerts pinned to the antiseptic walls. about eleven. so professional.. who was already strapped onto a gurney.

 the wonderfully coldhearted au pair.""You saw the light."Wendy Raymore?" Cappy barked. I'm afraid they're our matters now. focusing on the heights of Fort Mason. "You think it might piss someone off if he's selling six hundred million dollars of stock while going around the country telling everyone else it's a buy at ten?""We can't control our share price."The Lightowers' remains were side by side on two gur-neys. "Get everyone out of here. the biking helmet and goggles covered his face in case the police were filming the crowd. the grit and soot and smell of ash chipping off my body. you think you can finish off the next passage? That's the tricky part." Zinn scratched a note. "Chief just got it confirmed from the Bomb Squad. I knew they'd had to make their peace with Homi-cide being run by a woman for the first time."IT WAS A CLEAR. Edmund picked up a cord-less on the handset.

"There was a collective sigh. "Most of us have known Mort since the beginning. Another adult in a back room on the first floor."So."Danko paused for a couple of seconds. one of those plastic labels. "Charlotte Lightower was pregnant. The shape of a man.It was a small boy. I couldn't see for shit. you did good. "I know I'm out of bed" - he scratched his head - "I remember putting on my glasses."I took Cappy and Jacobi outside the room. They were also friends. but when a guy I'm interviewing starts to twist around like a cod on a fishing line. And my mouth tasted the bitter smoke of the blast.

 Danko was thinking as he observed the homicide scene. "I heard it on the news.""Can't. shaking my head. "Only. AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Lieutenant. tomorrow. restored town houses. "Lieutenant?"I turned."The three of us pushed our way inside. her body toned and lean again. The first movement of Haydn's Concerto in D. I noticed that my hands were still trembling.The lawyer's pen never touched the page. coughing.